Advantages and disadvantages of E-mail

Advantages of Email

The benefits of E-mail are huge in number.

• Easy to use: E-mail frees us from the tedious task of managing data for daily use. It helps us manage our contacts, send mails quickly, maintain our mail history, store the required information, etc.

• Speed: An E-mail is delivered instantly and anywhere across the globe. No other service matches the e-mail in terms of speed.

• Easy to prioritize: Because E-mail come with a subject line, it is easy to prioritize them and ignore the unwanted ones.

• Reliable and secure: Constant efforts are being taken to improve the security in electronic mails. It makes e-mail one of the secured ways of communication.

• Informal and conversational: The language used in E-mail is generally simple and thus, makes the process of communication informal. Sending and receiving e-mails takes less time, so it can be used as a tool for interaction.

• Easier for reference: When a person needs to reply to a mail, he/she can use the provision of attaching previous mails as references. It helps refresh the recipient's know-how on what he is reading.

• Automated e-mails: It is possible to send automated E-mail using special programs like autoresponders. The autoresponders reply only to those messages with generalized, prewritten text messages.

• Environment friendly: Postal mails use paper as a medium to send letters. Electronic mail therefore, prevents a large number of trees from getting axed. It also saves the fuel needed for transportation.

• Use of graphics: Colorful greeting cards and interesting pictures can be sent through E-mail. This adds value to the E-mail service.

• Advertising tool: Nowadays, many individuals and companies are using the E-mail service to advertise their products, services, etc.

• Info at your fingertips: Storing data online means less large, space taking file cabinets, folders and shelves. You can access information far quicker if you learn how to use email this way.

• Leverage: Send the same message to any number of people. Adaptations are simple, too. If you have a product or service to sell, E-mail is an effective medium to get your message out. Send reminders to yourself. Do you use more than one account? Email yourself messages from work to home or vice versa.

Disadvantages of Email 

The E-mail service, though beneficial in our day-to-day life, has got its own drawbacks that are off late coming to the fore.

• Viruses: These are computer programs which have the potential to harm a computer system. These programs copy themselves and further infect the computer. The recipient needs to scan the mails since; viruses are transmitted through them and have the potential to harm computer systems.

• Spam: E-mail when used to send unsolicited messages and unwanted advertisements create nuisance and are termed as Spam. Checking and deleting these unwanted mails can unnecessarily consume a lot of time. It has therefore, become necessary to block or filter unwanted E-mail by means of spam filters. Spamming is practiced by sending hoax E-mail. E-mail spoofing is another common practice, used for spamming. The act of spoofing involves deceiving the recipient by altering e-mail headers or addresses from which the mail is sent.

• Hacking: The act of breaking into computer security is termed as hacking. In this form of security breach, E-mail are intercepted by hackers. An E-mail before being delivered to the recipient, "bounces" between servers located in different parts of the world; hence, it can be hacked by a professional hacker.

• Misinterpretation: One has to be careful while posting content through an E-mail. If typed in a hurry, the matter could be misinterpreted.

• Lengthy mails: If the mail is too long and not properly presented, the reader may lose interest in reading it.

• Not suitable for business: Since the content posted via e-mails is considered informal, there is a chance of business documents going unnoticed. Thus, urgent transactions and especially those requiring signatures are not managed through E-mail

• Crowded inbox: Over a period of time, the E-mail inbox may get crowded with mails. It becomes difficult for users to manage such a huge chunk of mails. Need to check the inbox regularly: In order to stay updated, one has to check his E-mailaccount regularly.

• Lacks the personal touch: Some things are best left untyped. E-mail will never beat a hand written card or letter when it comes to relationships.

Every new technology enters the social world with its share of benefits and drawbacks. Different people interpret and utilize it in different ways. In order to make the most of the available technology, users should try to understand both, the positive and negative sides of the tool they use. No technology can be deemed totally perfect!

Thanks for reading... 

Read more:

E-mail